Techmology ain’t your friend. We need more vigilance over what our lovely new tech toys are doing to us.

There must be better ways to design the tools we need and use. Perhaps the Center for Humane Technology has some ideas.

Silicon Valley is reckoning with having had a bad philosophical operating system. People in tech will say, “You told me, when I asked you what you wanted, that you wanted to go to the gym. That’s what you said. But then I handed you a box of doughnuts and you went for the doughnuts, so that must be what you really wanted.” The Facebook folks, that’s literally what they think. We offer people this other stuff, but then they always go for the outrage, or the autoplaying video, and that must be people’s most true preference.

I think the [traffic] metrics have created this whole illusion that what people are doing is what people want, when it’s really just what works in the moment, in that situation.

Richard Florida has been leading a new understanding of what makes urban places great and how we can harness the innovation and economic success that comes from our cities.

His thoughts on the 2016 election lead him to see a looming decentralization of political power. It sounds good to the staff here, but we wonder how it plays out in situations such as when red country pollution seeps into blue cities.

A study shows the advantages of a circular Economy in a country where infrastructure is not as advanced and car ownership is not as widespread as in mature economies.

By designing the economy to share, reuse, recycle as opposed to the linear “take-make-dispose” model they would experience faster and greater growth while creating a more sustainable and environmentally sound economy.

India Could Leapfrog Advanced Countries By Adopting A Circular Economy

We need fewer entrepreneurs and idea folks and more doers who get good ideas out there.

SomebodyisFlyingthePlane.

We tend to focus on the glitz and glamor of new ideas and products. The article points to the need to get existing ideas out into the world; which is more important than dreaming up new solutions to the world’s problems.

Wonder material graphene has broken out of the lab, but hasn’t quite broken into the factory. Lots of planned uses have already been envisioned. But who is going to have the first commercially available product?

My bet is a Chinese tchotchke company will produce some kind of toy meant for the desks of office drones worldwide; available for $9.99 at Brookstone.

Here’s hoping that the promise of graphene heralds the next era of unfathomable leaps in efficiency and productivity; solving the worlds ills, environmental, economic and otherwise.